spiderweb cracks
by Airway Static
Summary: It was all vengeance, in a way. Namine would never exist and Kairi always would.


Kairi didn't believe in perfectly happy endings. Call it sad but it was true. She preferred her modern day romances and textbook stories fashioned for the sole purpose of teaching a "life lesson" that was all common sense in the end. And when romance got too good to be considered_ realistic_ in her life, she settled for her friends' talk of the too smooth charm and "I'm doing this for you babe" smiles of boys. She didn't believe in any of it anyway. That's why when she got approached by one of them she was able to smile it off and break their heart for the duration of the ten minutes it'd take to find their new infatuation.

Why don't you date so-and-so Kai?

Because I'm waiting for some who'll last.

And who will that be?

I don't know yet.

Then Kairi would shrug and retreat into her worlds of ideal love and sweep-you-off-your-feet relationships, all while waiting for the moment when she'd be able to have her own with her perfect guy. But who was he? There had been someone…she knew it, but still couldn't for the life of him recall his name or even whether he was a real person or a daydream she had made up after a bout of self misery at her lack of a boyfriend. Whenever she tried to get a mental image she could only think of pastel drawings of blue and a chocolate brown. If she attempted to recall the sound of his voice the words of a promise to protect not intended for her floated through her head. The name was a complete mystery but she figured she'd know after he came back. Because, all of a sudden she was sure that he existed, had known her, and had vowed to come back. But the one thing he hadn't done was swear to protect her. No, that had been someone else although she wasn't sure when she really thought about it. She decided that it didn't matter. All she'd have to do was settle back and wait for that one voice she was always on the brink of recalling to announce that yes, he was back, and would be with her from then on.

When a voice did come though, it was female and sounded strangely familiar but in a different way from her hero. It whispered through her; listing all her secret fears and thoughts about anything and everything. Kairi did her best to ignore it but that voice wouldn't leave and instead only seemed to get stronger until it developed a name and a form, not to mention the knowledge of everything that went on in Kairi's life.

Namine was what she was called. She was a tiny wisp of a girl but oddly seemed to possess some form of a dangerously potent power too big for her small body. If Kairi believed in such things, she'd think that the girl could be a witch in her own right. There was one more thing about her, something that bordered on recognition because she seemed so much like someone Kairi couldn't name but…it was nothing.

And Kairi was Namine's morbid fascination as much as Namine _wasn't _to the other girl. As much as she tried to tune her out Namine plagued her thoughts and wouldn't leave, observing her everyday life like she'd never seen anything like it.

To Namine, skies and stars away, it was all vengeance in the end because Kairi was real and her other never would be. So, to make up for it, Namine did her best to embed herself in the daily life of Kairi until she felt like she really had almost existed.

She expressed her opinions on the things Kairi couldn't decide, and surprisingly sometimes the girl would listen to her and take her advice. Occasionally a witty comeback from Namine would be borrowed by Kairi to be thrown at a friend or adversary depending. When they were alone, Namine finally found the reason to the sudden acceptance of her presence. Somehow, Kairi knew without actually knowing that Namine could tell her about her mystery boy. She questioned her blond-yes she considered Namine hers but there was nothing behind it, just the thought that Namine couldn't be anything but a figment of her imagination (like an imaginary friend that came seven years too late) and anything that was dreamed up by her mind should be labeled as hers as well-about her boy and how he came to disappear.

Namine would have to lie to her because she knew that Kairi's hero was currently taken up with newly recalled oaths and shooting stars and that if she didn't, the consequences were unknown. Besides, even though Namine accepted that she'd never _really _exist, the thought of a real boy all to herself was a nice idea. But what if…what if she actually could exist? If she let Kairi know the truth all she'd have to do was share a bit of her memories, swap those with Kairi's. If Kairi owned the memories would that make them more real? Probably. And she should know, she had control over most of it after all. The time Namine's stolen prince promised to protect her whether he had really sworn to or not, she decided.

And all the while during this whole charade, Kairi was treated to flashes of memories that didn't belong to her until auburn lightened to blond and white slowly integrated itself into her wardrobe.

It was only when one day, when she looked into her mirror and saw someone that most definitely wasn't herself, did she scream.

Wow Kairi, I didn't know you could draw so well!

What are you talking about? I'm Namine and I've always drawn.

…silly girl.


End file.
